Gabby and Dinah
by MUZBNUTS
Summary: The Birds of Prey as seen through Gabby's eyes.
1. Day One

This path that I have chosen isn't easy. Nothing worthwhile in this life ever is. I listen to people discussing this lifestyle as if they know exactly what they are talking about; as if they know what it means to be gay. They know nothing. It's a choice, they say, not something you're born with. Well, they're right about one thing. It has to do with choice alright. A gay person chooses not to shun the feelings they've been born with; not to brush them aside like so much residue. A gay person chooses to recognize their feelings for the same sex and refuses to brush them off as a phase.

It started when I was young, though I suppose I really didn't recognize it for what it was then. Crushes on friends...on teachers...always female. As I grew older I thought that I was just more attuned to members of my own sex. That I was able to bond with females better; more intensely. Those thoughts were toppled like so many building blocks the day I met Jasmine.

I was a freshman in New Gotham High School when she passed me in the hallway, a raven-haired beauty with legs a mile long. I was mesmerized by her walk – one long, luscious leg gracefully placed in front of the other as she fairly glided down the hallway. Something stirred inside me; something I'd felt before, but never with such intensity as in that moment. I found myself following her; struggling to keep up as she expertly slipped past fellow classmates. I was so caught up in the art of skillful dodging, that I hadn't noticed she'd stopped...directly in front of me. I crashed right into her, both of us toppling to the ground in a heap of notebooks, paper and pencils.

I was so embarrassed, I couldn't even look at her as I mumbled an apology and attempted to retrieve my belongings with as much dignity as I could muster. Then I tried to sneak away and fairly jumped at the electric touch of this mystery girl's hand on my arm.

"I believe this one is yours," she had said, handing me a history textbook.

In that moment, our eyes met and I was hooked. She had amazing eyes – deep blue and mesmerizing. The kind of eyes poets describe as limpid pools of blue. I was so lost in those eyes – so beautiful, so inviting – that I completely missed the fact that she was still holding out the book. She waved it in front of my face. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as she stood there giggling at my embarrassment.

And that is how my whirlwind affair with Jasmine had begun. Having never been comfortable with guys, this relationship had been something that felt so right. I never questioned it. This was who I was. All those who called it immoral just couldn't understand.

It only lasted through freshman year though. Jasmine's father was in the military and they moved around quite a bit. When the orders came through that they were to move to Texas, Jasmine broke the news with as little subtlety as when she had first asked me about my sexuality – "Hey, that test was killer, huh? By the way, did you ever wonder what it might be like to kiss a girl?"

When Jasmine left, I was heartbroken. My mom tried to get me to date a friend's son. That was a disaster. Don't get me wrong, he was drop-dead gorgeous and a great catch for some lucky heterosexual. But alas, I didn't fit that category. Explaining my feelings to my mom was a lesson in futility. She basically told me that all teenagers experiment and that this was just a phase I was going through. Pretty long phase to be going through...some 16 years worth of phase. That was a very long summer.

But the following year brought a ray of sunshine into my life; a ray that blazed brightly enough to burn away the dreary clouds left behind by Jasmine's departure. That was when a timid blonde was asked to stand up in front of the class and tell us something interesting about herself. Teachers sometimes forget just how awkward life was when they were our age. They forget how hard it is to come to a new school in the middle of the year, without someone singling you out as "the new kid". Dinah looked like a doe caught in a pair of headlights.

I felt so bad for her. Ms. Wells wouldn't let Dinah off the hook by just giving us her name. There had to be more. Dinah was so obviously reaching for something – anything – remotely interesting that would satisfy the teacher's need to embarrass her.

All eyes were on Dinah as she related the story of her home town and its claim to fame – Opal was the town that had first coined the term zipper. A couple of the more popular girls giggled, but for the most part, the room was filled with complete and utter silence.

Dinah's face glowed a bright shade of red as she returned to her seat. She hunched down as if she could somehow make herself small enough to disappear. Poor kid. You could tell that she was shy, and by the reaction from the rest of the room, this little introduction was not going to win her any popularity points.

The rest of the class, Dinah made every effort not to be noticed by the teacher. I kept sneaking glances at her. There was just something about her that called to me. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it was the "shy girl" thing that attracted me – I dunno. All I knew was that she seemed like someone I ought to get to know.

When class was over, Dinah made a beeline for the door, racing through without even a backwards glance. I suppose she had been staring at the clock, willing the bell to ring signaling the end of class – the end of her painfully embarrassing moment. By the time I got to the doorway, she was gone, almost as if she had disappeared into thin air. She probably had been wishing for just that power after the zipper story.

Slowly, I headed to my next class, wondering if Dinah might be already cowering in a chair in some far corner of the classroom where she wouldn't be noticed. But alas, to my dismay, she was not. I settled in for a predictably boring math class.

Two hours passed before I saw her again. Two hours of monotonous, sleepy-drool-inducing lectures. When the bell rang signaling the beginning of the fourth period, I nearly jumped for joy. Grabbing a table with a few friends, I settled down to the usual crappy lunch.

Nobody ever really enjoyed the food in the lunchroom, it was the ambiance – the cliques – that made the lunchroom really what it was: a hangout for the popular, the freaks, and geeks alike. Everyone sat in little groups and discussed what was wrong or right about other little groups. Who cared what our faults were so long as we weren't like those dweebs over there. Say what you will about us – every high school has always been like this, I don't care how far back you go.

So, I settled in for a discussion on the latest fashion faux pas, when I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye. She stood there with her tray, trying to decide which table seemed the least frightening. I was about to call her over when Val says, "Hey, Zipper Girl!" Looking like she had been mortally wounded, Dinah hurried away. I gave Val a good shot to the ribs with my elbow. I was so totally pissed at her.

By the time I refocused my attention toward Dinah, she was gone; her untouched tray discarded atop an empty table. Man, that girl could move. I knew there would be no point in following, but I got up from the table and went to the door. The hallway was empty with no sign that the shy blonde had ever passed through. I sighed wondering if I'd see her in one of my classes later on in the day.

As the day progressed, I became resigned to the fact that I would have to try again tomorrow. If there was a tomorrow anyway. I don't know why, but I had the impression that Dinah had been expecting more on her first day at New Gotham High. More what? I'm not sure. But if it was acceptance...hell, this was high school. Acceptance is hard won here.


	2. Day Two

High school could be a cruel and foreboding place when you were different. I learned that lesson early. Dating Jasmine in my freshman year of high school taught me a thing or two about that. So did history class. I mean, think about it. When haven't other people railed against those who were different?

Many of the country's founding fathers left their homelands in search of a land where they would not be persecuted for their differences. Those very same people forgot their reasons for coming to this country as soon as they met the natives of this land. They were different; looked different. They had different customs and different ways of doing things. Instead of rejoicing in their differences and trying to coexist with them, the newly landed immigrants decided to teach the natives the right path – their path. After all, the natives were savages, right?

America's history is rife with persecution: the Salem witch trials, Irish Need Not Apply signs, segregation, gay-bashing...I could go on. It's all a pattern doomed to be repeated. Life in high school can be equated to a small satellite of the world we live in. That being the case, why should high school be any different from the rest of the world?

You know that old adage – the one about sticks and stones. It's a crock of shit. Words hurt just as much as sticks and stones...sometimes more, depending on their source and how they are directed. I ought to know, being a direct recipient of some of the sharper barbs. But, I tend to adapt faster than others. After a while, I got past the childishness of it all and decided to ignore it. If a person couldn't accept me for what I was, I didn't need them around. I thought it their loss.

But to someone like Dinah, a shy and timid girl to say the least, high school could be hell. Instant acceptance is a rare commodity in high school. In fact, it almost never happens. When Ms. Wells forced Dinah to stand up in class and say something about herself, it was as if she was trying to force acceptance on us. It was the worst thing she could have ever done.

She exposed all of Dinah's weaknesses right there in front of twenty other students. Those twenty told all of their friends about "Zipper Girl", the shy blonde, who in her nervous attempt to find something – anything – cool to relate about herself, blurted out that her town was the first to coin the term "zipper". Her reaction to the giggles she heard fairly sealed her fate.

When she disappeared from the lunchroom the day before, after being teased by Val, I half expected that she wouldn't return. Still, Dinah intrigued me, and a part of me hoped she was strong enough to weather the storm. Walking into Ms. Wells' class just seconds before the bell, I scanned the room and was pleasantly surprised. Ducking down in a seat in the back row was a familiar blonde head doing her very best to remain unnoticed.

The bell rang and I found my seat, but I barely noticed what was being taught. My mind was focusing on what I would do when class was over. I wanted to talk to Dinah, but had to be careful of my approach. After all, I would be suspect – I had been sitting next to Val when she had made that "Zipper Girl" comment. Dinah would be suspicious of my motives.

I had barely begun to think of the possible ways to approach Dinah when the bell rang signaling the end of the period. Before I could slide out of my chair, Dinah was dashing out the door and on to her next class. As I rushed to the door, I barely caught a glimpse of her as she rounded the corner.

_Damn_, I remember thinking to myself. _Another missed opportunity_.

Knowing that I wouldn't see Dinah again until lunch, I pretty much resigned myself to two hours of boredom. I was not disappointed. Not that I didn't like school. There were classes I enjoyed. For example, I had always found history to be rather fascinating. And English – I loved to read, and I always received compliments on my writing.

In fact, school for the most part wasn't too bad. Often times, it was the teachers that made it boring. I mean, picture that teacher in Ferris Beuller's Day Off. You know the one. The guy that takes attendance at the beginning of class: "Bueller...Bueller...Bueller". Imagine having to listen to that droning voice for an hour each day. Now multiply that by four or five. No wonder Ferris had decided to cut.

When my prison sentence was up and the bell rang signifying my lunch period, I fairly ran to the lunchroom. I paused just inside the doorway, scanning the room for any sign of Dinah. I found her, seated in a far corner of the room, alone. I headed over to the tray line, picked up my tray and headed toward the far side of the lunchroom. I heard Val call me over to my usual table, but I was firm in my resolve.

Something told me that I had to talk to this girl. I just can't explain it. As I approached the table, I paused, fearful that I would say something or do something to screw it up. I can come on a bit strong sometimes and I didn't want to do anything to scare Dinah off. Just when I started to rethink my actions, Dinah looked up from her meal. Her eyes locked with mine, and suddenly, all the practiced greetings that I had mused over in Ms. Wells' class were lost to me.

"I...uh...you're Dinah." _No kidding, Jackass!_ "You're in Ms. Wells' class." _Like I needed to tell her that one._ "Yeah, I'm there too...with you...er...in that class." _Oh, God, what an idiot! Smooth, Gabby, really smooth!  
_

Dinah stared up at me for a moment, watching me fidget in my discomfort. I was certain she was going to think me a simple-minded fool and simply get up from the table and leave. But then, a smile appeared on her face – a smile so genuine, I couldn't help but mirror the image. Then she began to chuckle. It was infectious. Soon, I was laughing so hard that a stitch was beginning to develop in my side.

I put my tray down on the table and plopped down onto the bench, holding my stomach. Dinah wiped tears from her eyes as she tried unsuccessfully to get a hold of herself. Nervous laughter is the worst. Just when you think you're over it, it grabs you again in its clutches and you are doubled over, gasping for air.

When we finally were able to compose ourselves, we settled down to a lunch of lousy food and interesting conversation. Dinah lived with Ms. Gordon, one of the English teachers who also doubled as a counselor on her off hours. She'd just arrived in New Gotham last week and was a little disenchanted with the place, but she wanted desperately to make things work out here. I didn't ask, but from the way Dinah referred to her life in Opal...or rather the way she shied away from discussing her life in Opal...a return to her home town was something she dreaded with a passion.

When the bell rang and lunchtime was over, Dinah's face fell. I, too, felt sort of robbed. We had fallen into such an easy and enjoyable conversation, I hadn't wanted the moment to end. But someone once said that all good things must come to an end. We said our goodbyes and headed out of the lunchroom, vowing to have lunch together the following day. It wasn't until we both had rounded the corner at the end of the hall that we realized we were traveling in the same direction.

As it turned out, we were both in the same science class. Then following that, we were in the same gym class. In fact, our schedules were virtually identical except for two hours of the day. Funny how things work out, huh?


	3. Sins of the Mother

Life is one hell of a rollercoaster ride. It's filled with ups and downs, twists and turns, and just when you think you're getting used to it all – WHAM! – there's a new twist thrown in to make the ride more complex. Some people tend to get hung up on those twists, either scared or just plain unwilling to get past that bend...that new wrinkle in their lives.

I tend to think that the twists and turns are what makes life worth living. I mean, after all, if everything were a straight line – completely predictable – life would be a total bore. True, some of the turns are tight and some of the hills are hard to climb, but somehow, we find the strength to get up those hills and hang on when the turns get too hairy.

It's been my experience that in riding rollercoasters, if you let yourself tense up, you're bound to end up with a bruise or two. Same thing holds true for life. If you fight the twists and turns and resist changes that come your way, you're in for a world of hurt. It's always better to relax and deal with the situations as they come – take the turns as you reach them and ride them out.

But when life throws you a loop you can't handle, sometimes it's best not to take that ride alone. Sometimes, a fresh perspective can help smooth out the ride and make it something less daunting. That's always been my philosophy anyways.

I haven't known Dinah Redmond very long, but I can tell she's been experiencing one of the more complex coasters...and she hasn't quite mastered how to handle the ride. There are times when she gets very quiet and introspective – times where I can see a sadness in her eyes so deep and intense that it's actually painful to witness. But whenever I ask her what's wrong, she changes denies anything is bothering her and quickly changes the subject.

I've never been one to push. If a person wants to keep something a secret, I usually just let them. That's not to say that I'm not the inquisitive type. I just never saw the need to force anyone to tell me anything they felt like keeping private.

In Dinah's case, pushing could end up shoving her right out the door. She locks so much up. Sometimes I think she's a bomb just a short fuse away from an earth-shattering explosion. There's so much I still don't know about her...so much I wish she would tell me...but I know better than to demand answers. She's just started coming out of her shell – just started to trust me – and I don't want to do anything to cause her to hide again.

But when Dinah stopped by the apartment the other night, I could tell that something was really bothering her. She and I had made plans to study that night, but when she showed up, I could tell that schoolwork was the furthest thing from her mind. She stared at the words in her notebook, but I had no doubt that she wasn't seeing them. Her mind was somewhere else.

When I asked her if something was wrong, I received the customary reply. But whereas she'd always shaken herself out of the funk she was in before, this time, it seemed as if she'd dug herself a hole she couldn't climb out of...at least not without help. But if I tried to help, would I end up pushing her away?

I shifted my position on the bed trying to get a peak at her eyes – to read what the response would be if I ventured further. But Dinah wouldn't look at me. Her eyes were focused unseeing on the book she held in her hands – hands that gripped the book so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

I took a deep breath and prayed I was doing the right thing as I lay a hand on the book she held and gently pushed it down. She let it fall to the mattress, her eyes watching its progression downward with disinterest.

"Dinah, what's going on?" I asked. "Did you have an argument with Barbara or something?"

"No," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Not with Barbara."

"Who then?" I asked, determined to discover what was plaguing my new-found friend. "Helena?" I knew that Dinah and Helena didn't always get along...especially when Dinah took to raiding Helena's closet every now and then.

Dinah rose from the bed and walked to the window. Everything about her posture suggested that she was struggling with some personal dilemma. She stood there before the window, her shoulders slumped, her head down, gazing at the floor, seeing nothing.

I wasn't sure what to do. Whatever it was that Dinah was struggling with, it was causing her great pain and I yearned to help her with it...but would she let me? I rose from the bed and walked over to stand beside her.

"Ya know, you can enjoy the view a lot more if you open the shades," I said, a hint of laughter in my voice – my attempt to lighten the mood.

My joke didn't go over well. Actually, it garnered no response whatsoever – only silence. Just when I thought I could no longer bear the silence, Dinah spoke. Her voice was monotone and she continued to stare at the floor.

"I never told you how I ended up with Barbara," she began. "I told you that I came from Opal, but I never told you how I got here."

She turned to face me then, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. I didn't know what to say – I was afraid that if I spoke, Dinah might change her mind and decide not to confide in me. I was afraid she'd leave and allow whatever grief that was plaguing her to consume her. So, I stayed silent, which turned out to be the right thing to do.

We both walked back toward the bed and sat down. Then Dinah told me her story – a tale about a frightened girl who was given into foster care by her mother at the age of six. Dinah spoke haltingly about her childhood with the Redmonds, the pain of those memories spoken aloud finally causing the tears to spill from her eyes. She told me of a life lived in fear and shame – a life filled with hateful words and shameful acts – all because she was different. She saw things differently from the Redmonds and for that, she was labeled a freak.

By the time Dinah finally reached the end of her tale – how she had run away from her foster parents and ended up in Barbara Gordon's care – we were both in tears. My hands were clenched in fists of rage and I was frustrated at not being able to confront the Redmonds in all my fury. No one has the right to make another person ashamed of who they are just because they are different. And to inflict such mental, emotional, and sometimes physical abuse – I longed to get my hands on these bastards and shake some sense into them.

Throughout Dinah's rendition of her life with her foster parents, her voice had been subdued, fraught with pain and anguish. Suddenly that changed. Her face flushed with anger and her tone was harsh when she finally confided what had been on her mind all along.

"And there she was...after all these years...standing next to Barbara...my mother."

I listened intently as Dinah told me of the first conversation she'd had with her mother since she'd been left with the Redmonds almost a decade ago. As she spoke, it seemed as if Dinah's anger had become a tangible thing – a shimmering field of energy that sent goosebumps down my arms.

"She left me with those monsters...no explanation...no note...no phone call. After all these years, she walks in and just expects me to welcome her back with open arms. She said she wants to be my mother again, but she doesn't even know me! I've just finally gotten used to things being normal...to people accepting me for who I am...and now she walks in and wants to change it all! I won't let her!"

Her hand thumped down on the bed and we both jumped as one of the textbooks fell to the floor. I remember thinking at the time how funny it was that the textbook had fallen. I hadn't remembered the book being near the edge of the bed. But when I looked up from the floor and saw the anguish in that tear-streaked face, the mystery of the textbook was forgotten.

I pulled Dinah into my arms as she sobbed, stroking her blonde hair, whispering soothing words into her ear as I held her. I'd only known Dinah a month, but in that month, somehow a bond was formed – a bond that I had never experienced in any other friendship in the past. It hurt my heart to see Dinah suffering so. I wished that I could take that pain away, but there was just no way to erase the past.

When the sobbing subsided and the tears stopped flowing, Dinah pulled back to face me. That look of torment was still on her face and I knew that Dinah was struggling with a decision. I decided to put words to her dilemma.

"Dinah, do you want to have your mother back in your life?"

She sighed, drained from the anger and the tears. She flopped backwards and landed in a heap on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling.

"I...I...I just want to know why? Why did she leave me? What did I do?..."

"Dinah," I interrupted, exasperation tainting my voice, "you were six years old! What could you have done?"

Taking a deep breath, I decided to impart some advice – advice that I wasn't sure Dinah wanted to hear. "The decision your mom made...well, maybe it was the best choice she had at the time. The fact that she came back...that she admits she was wrong...that says a lot. There are lots of reasons why people put their children in foster homes. The fact that she looked for you after you ran away from them...searched for you, and then actually had the balls to approach you...maybe she had a good reason for what she did. And maybe she didn't know what the Redmonds were really like. You see the news – stuff like that happens all the time.

"It sounds like you need answers from your mom – answers that only she can give. She wants to be in your life and you want to know why she left it in the first place. And maybe those answers won't be what you want to hear, but at least you will have gotten them. You won't have any answers if you completely shut her out of your life."

As I waited for her to respond, I realized I was holding my breath. I wasn't sure how Dinah would react to the advice I was giving her – would she think I was siding with her mother who abandoned her so long ago? Or would she take the advice for what it was – help from a friend who can see the whole picture from outside the scope?

Dinah stayed silent for a moment, then sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes, a look of determination washing over the once anguished features.

"You're right. If I don't talk to her, I'll never get the answers I need. And what if you're right about the Redmonds – what if she didn't know? I'll have to confront her...but not tonight...I need some time...I..." Dinah glanced over at me with a sheepish grin. "I sorta told Barbara I was sleeping over."

I laughed and pulled Dinah into another hug. "Of course you can stay over."

I didn't see Dinah for a couple of days after that. When I did, she was subdued. Her eyes were red and swollen as if from crying and there were dark circles beneath them which suggested little sleep. As I approached I could feel dread and sorrow exuding from Dinah in waves – a palpable thing that threatened to smother her.

She broke down upon seeing me and it took quite a while for her to regain enough control to tell me that her mother had been killed in an explosion. Dinah told me that she had finally had made a connection, however small with her mother, and it had been taken away by some madman. She never explained the whole story to me, but somehow that didn't seem to matter at the time. All that mattered was the pain my friend was feeling and what I could do to ease some of it.

No, Dinah hasn't yet mastered that rollercoaster called life, but she'll never have to go through it alone – I'll always be there to help her along the ride.


	4. Lady Shiva

How much do we know about any given person at any given time? In high school, a person is judged by how many people they know and what crowds those people are associated with. Be seen with the wrong person and you're pond scum. Never mind if that person were the kindest, most thoughtful person in the world. If they wear the wrong clothes or hang out with the wrong people, they aren't worth a damn.

I don't subscribe to that mentality. That makes me something of an anomaly at New Gotham High. I don't look at the phony exterior. I look for what lies beneath. I'm not interested in how gorgeous you are, or what new fashion you're sporting, or who you were seen with yesterday. I want to know who you are – what makes you tick – what kind of person you are inside.

Dinah's nowhere close to being popular, but since she came to New Gotham, I could tell she was someone I wanted to know. There was just something about her – a sense of complete openness and naivety – that drew me toward her. Those same characteristics made her an easy target for the popular kids' jokes and that drew us even closer. I wasn't about to let those self-centered fools have at Dinah like lions at the sight of a fresh kill.

Lost to these people was the beautiful soul that lay beneath the frightened mouse exterior. Lost was the complexity beneath each smile or frown. They would never know the loyalty she felt toward those she allowed to get close. I count myself fortunate to be among those allowed into the fortress Dinah's built for herself.

Sometimes, I find Dinah watching the popular kids at school and I can see the yearning in her eyes. A yearning that mingles with another feeling, fighting for dominance – fear. Dinah longs to belong, but at the same time is afraid to take that step toward belonging. For until recently, everyone Dinah dared allowed to get close to her, hurt her in some way, shape, or form.

After hearing about the way she had suffered at the hands of her foster parents for all those years, I can hardly blame her for wanting to hide behind that impenetrable wall she'd built. I'm still amazed that she had come to trust me so much as to tell me about her ordeal. But I don't fool myself – our relationship is tenuous at best. One slip and that wall between us would be resurrected anew.

I never wanted that to happen…and for it to almost happen over a boy? Ha! Go figure!

It all started with the dance. Everyone was talking about it. After all, it was the first dance of the school year and all of the popular kids were looking forward to showing off in a large forum. Don't get me wrong, the popular kids make it their business to be noticed all year round, but it's kind of hard to be fully seen when everyone is rushing past each other trying to get to the next class. School dances were a virtual fashion show for the popular kids. A place where they could be seen in full regalia – where they can show off their latest outfits, hairstyles, and significant others and size up their competition.

Dinah and I had decided that the school dance would be lame and that we wouldn't attend. We told ourselves that it wouldn't be any fun due to the pretentiousness of the whole thing, but in the backs of our heads, we were both probably thinking about the fact that neither of us would have a date for the dance.

And then it happened – had I not seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. We were in lab preparing for the task most high school kids dread – frog dissection. Dinah was staring across the room as if entranced. So enchanted was she, that she didn't even notice when the tray containing the frog was dropped unceremoniously on the table in front of her. When I turned to see what had Dinah's complete and undivided attention, I couldn't help but tease.

"Matt Kendall, huh? Not bad," I drawled, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Dinah let loose an exasperated sigh.

"Am I that transparent?" she asked, her eyes begging me to say no.

"Oh, please," I teased, rolling my eyes in Matt's direction. "You are so obviously desperately infatuated." I couldn't help but carry it a step further. I gasped as the most perfect idea had come to me. Affecting a most serious look, I announced, "You should ask him to the dance!"

Of course, I knew that Dinah wouldn't – she was just too shy. There was no way she was going to approach a hot guy and talk to him, much less ask him on a date.

"Oh, but I thought we decided the dance was going to be lame," Dinah said, making every effort not to look in Matt's direction.

"Oh, I'm changin' the forecast, the dance is lookin' up," I said, wagging my eyebrows and flashing Dinah a grin. I was having too much fun watching Dinah's reaction to all of this. "Due to the possible slow dance potential between you and the hottest guy in school? Ha! Carpe Diem!"

I never expected what came next. Dinah actually looked like she was considering the idea. Then suddenly, she grinned and asked me to switch lab partners with her. I couldn't believe it – shy, naïve Dinah Redmond was going to make a play for Matt Kendall – I was in shock.

"Initiative," she said as she headed toward Matt's table, "it's the fine line between satisfaction and regret."

I couldn't help but laugh. Then it hit me – not only was Dinah doing something truly uncharacteristic for her, but I was being presented with a great opportunity. Dinah couldn't have known it, but this was shaping up to be a real win / win situation. Matt Kendall's lab partner was the truly hot Gina Falcone. Score! I rushed over to snag Gina and explain how we would be swapping partners.

Of course, things didn't start off easy. Dinah told me later that Matt barely knew her name. The entire time they were working on dissecting their frog, Matt listened to the latest Mighty Toms CD, barely even speaking to Dinah. But I saw a spark of something in Dinah's eyes; something I hadn't seen there before – hope. She was not going to accept defeat this time.

I have to say that I was really proud of her. Knowing from experience, going after what you want –especially when what you want is a hot someone – is a very daunting task, but Dinah was not going to give up that easily. I did what any good friend would do – I cheered her on whole-heartedly.

On the way home, we discussed the plan of attack. Dinah wanted to catch his attention…make him notice her like he noticed Gina. Who wouldn't notice Gina? I mean, let's face it, she had looks, she had style, and she had a way of entering a room that made everyone take notice. We decided to take a page from Gina's book and step it up a notch.

The next day, Matt's eyes were definitely not on the lab assignment. Instead, they were glued on Dinah as she entered the room – a confident, smiling, ready to take on the world Dinah. Looking hot in a form-fitting off the shoulder number, a leather skirt with a strategically placed slit, high-heeled black boots, matching accessories, make-up, and sporting a walk that made people stop and take notice, Dinah definitely got the reaction she was looking for. Matt dropped everything he was doing and just stared, mouth agape. Hell, _I _dropped everything I was doing and stared. This was a Dinah I had never seen before. As I watched her walk over to Matt, I couldn't help but grin. If Dinah had mustered enough confidence to come to school looking like that, God knows what Matt Kendall was in for next!

As I watched from across the room, Matt's shocked look turned into a huge smile. And suddenly, just like that, Matt remembered Dinah's name and started up a conversation with her as if they were old buddies. At least, that's what it looked like from where I stood. Both of them were sporting huge grins, and true to her word, Dinah was not backing down. Flirtation was in high gear on that side of the lab.

Dinah turned my way and smiled and I knew she had achieved her goal. I threw her a wink and quickly moved my attention back to my lab partner, Gina, who also happened to be going to the dance. _Yeah_, I thought, _this dance really_ is _looking up!_

The night of the dance had arrived and Dinah didn't exactly have a formal date to the dance, but Matt had asked her if she was going. He had said that he was planning on checking it out and bugging if it turned out to be lame. He also added that it might not be too lame if Dinah showed up. After such a confident performance at school the day before, the old Dinah had resurfaced, and _she_ was a nervous wreck.

"What the hell am I going to wear!" she cried in despair. "I don't have anything I would even consider wearing to a dance!"

"Whoa! Take it easy, Dinah. Where did you get the clothes you wore to class yesterday?" I had already taken a guess at that one, so I wasn't too surprised at Dinah's response.

"I raided Helena's closet! And she was totally pissed! She's been in a rotten mood lately and I'd rather not risk incurring even more wrath by staging another raid."

I couldn't help but laugh. Dinah had already told me of Helena's possessiveness when it came to clothes.

"Looks like it's time to hit Barbara up for some cash. After all, you do want to impress Matt, and what you wore to class today is gonna be pretty hard to top," I said, wagging my brows.

Dinah went from looking freaked out to looking sullen. "Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to Barbara," she said in a detached manner. "Okay, I'm going home. If I can't find something there, maybe Barbara'll take me shopping. I'll call you as soon as I know what I'm wearing."

"Uh, okay," I said looking at my watch. "Better make it soon. The dance is only a few short hours away."

Dinah went from sullen to freaked out in an instant. "Don't remind me!"

As I watched her hurry down the street, I wondered what she was so worried about. The way Matt was looking at her all day today, she could probably show up in a paper sack and he'd still be fawning over her.

Dinah called me a couple of hours later to report that, as luck would have it, Alfred had already selected the perfect outfit for the dance. I was skeptical at first. I wondered at the fashion sense a butler might have, but Dinah assured me that Alfred had a sixth sense about such things. She said it was like he had read her mind and knew exactly what she would have wanted to wear.

As for myself, I planned to go in a sleek black number I'd been saving for a special occasion. Dinah wasn't the only one looking to make a lasting impression tonight. Gina Falcone was going to be at that dance tonight. I wasn't quite sure yet whether Gina was into other girls, but in case she was, I wanted her to keep me in mind.

Dinah arranged to meet me at the school about an hour after the start of the dance. No one ever wanted to be the first one to arrive at any school function. Of course, the fact that everyone showing up just a tad late to ensure that they weren't the first ones there pretty much ensured that everyone showed up at the same time. True to her word, Dinah was stunningly attired in a stunning peasant-like dress which perfectly contrasted to the blonde in her hair. The necklace she wore drew attention to the plunging neckline of the dress.

_Yup, _I remember thinking, _she definitely topped that other number nicely. Matt is gonna be floored._

As we made our entrance - looking exceptionally hot, I might add – I spotted Matt Kendall across the room.

"Guess who's headed our way," I said, giving Dinah a shove in the right direction to prevent her from letting her shyness take over and steer her somewhere else.

I noticed Gina standing in a corner of the room, just outside the entrance to the gym and made a beeline in that direction. Gina and I were already hitting it off fairly well when Matt made his way over to us – minus Dinah. Even worse, Gina had started to become fidgety when Matt appeared, displaying an obvious attraction toward him.

_Well, _I thought, _he is an attractive piece of eye candy._

No sooner had I had this thought when I was surprised to hear Matt asking me if I wanted to dance. As Matt started to steer me toward the dance floor, I glanced back at Dinah, a look of complete confusion on my face. Dinah just stood there, in the middle of the hallway, looking defeated. As I entered the gym, I spotted Dinah heading for the exit.

I immediately felt guilty for accepting Matt's offer to dance and begged off, heading out of the gym to search for Dinah. I didn't find her and got stopped again in the hallway by Gina. It seemed that she was more inclined to talk to me than Matt and was happy I'd broken away. Before I had another chance to look for Dinah, a group of cops burst in through the front doors, making there way down the hall at a fast pace. Gina and I tried to follow, but were immediately stopped at the double doors by a pair of officers who had been left behind to secure the area.

The teachers immediately declared the dance over and we were all herded out into the night, without a word about what exactly had taken place to cause all the excitement. As luck would have it, Gina didn't live far from me and we shared a cab ride home. When the cab dropped us off, we made our way to our respective buildings. I made a beeline for the phone the minute I entered the apartment, but all I could get was Dinah's answering machine. I would have to wait until the next day to find out what had happened to cause a meltdown between her and Matt.

I headed off to school the next morning with some trepidation. I wondered if the reason Dinah hadn't picked up the phone the night before, was because she was mad at me for accepting Matt's offer to dance. I wondered about that. I mean, Matt was definitely not my type. Why would Dinah be upset with me? The dance would have meant nothing.

When I finally did run into Dinah as we made our way into New Gotham High's front entrance, Dinah was all smiles, as if nothing had happened the night before. Dinah had a habit of doing that – pretending everything was fine, when you just knew that something was bothering her. I knew I should probably give her some space, but I didn't want this thing to hang over us forever. Friendships had been ruined over much less. I decided to bring up the furor after the dance last night and see what her reaction would be.

"Did you hear what happened last night? There was some sort of fight."

Dinah played down the excitement, joking that it was all caused by some teachers getting over-beveraged and going bezerk. We both laughed, but Dinah's laughter was over quickly

"S-so…what happened with you and Matt?" she asked. She looked me in the eye and I could tell she was afraid to hear the answer. The mood had turned from light to serious in a second.

"Nothing. We danced. Ya' know, I don't even know why he asked me."

Dinah looked away.

"It's pretty obvious. He must like you," she said, staring straight ahead. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, something I've noticed she does whenever she's nervous or upset about something.

It was then that I realized that Dinah didn't know. She had no clue that I was gay. At first, I was surprised. Then I realized that the subject had never really come up between us before. I had just assumed that she knew without ever actually coming out and saying so. She just had never picked up any of the signs.

Now came the difficult task – how to tell Dinah without completely shocking her. I wanted her to know that I wasn't after Matt, but at the same time, I wasn't quite sure how she would react to my explanation as to why. I decided to use the coy approach.

"Okay, well don't stress, 'cause the feeling's definitely not mutual."

The look on Dinah's face was of pure shock, as if I had just told her something outrageous like the sky was falling.

"He's sweet. He's just…not my type."

Dinah was completely floored by that and she made certain to voice her incredulity at my statement, ticking off the reasons why I should be attracted to Matt on her fingers.

"Gabby, he's a cool, sensitive, extremely easy on the eyes…he's everyone's type."

I realized that the coy route just wasn't going to work. I stopped and turned Dinah to face me.

"Dinah, you know when I agreed to switch lab partners?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't just do it for you."

She so wasn't getting it – "Yeah, but Matt's lab partner was that girl Gina."

I nodded at her, a grin on my face, willing her to understand what I was trying to tell her without me having to blurt it out right there in the hallway.

Her eyes grew wide with surprise as the realization hit her.

"You and…Gina!"

I just nodded and smiled.

"Oh!" – that apparently was all the comment Dinah could force out at the moment.

"She rocks," I said, then tossed Dinah a wink as I turned to walk back toward my first period class. Dinah spotted Matt walking down the hall and headed off in that direction.

And I sat down in the classroom wondering what Dinah's reaction to her newly-made discovery about me was going to be once the shock wore off. The more I thought about it, the more worried I got. Although Dinah's initial reaction was one of surprise and not repulsion, one could never really tell what a little time to mull over the idea would bring. Dinah came from a small town, one where folks were not very tolerant about people who were…different.

There was some hope on that front though. Dinah knew what it was like to be in my shoes. She had suffered at the hands of her stepparents just because she was different from them…how so, she never really fully explained, but that really didn't matter at the moment. Dinah did not take kindly to intolerance and I suspected that she was someone who could keep an open mind.

But what if she felt betrayed? I hadn't told her something important about myself…something that maybe she felt she should have known before sleeping over at my place. Not that I had made any moves on her, but what if she started thinking that I had only become friends with her so that I _could_ make a move on her? I was driving myself crazy thinking about all the scenarios that could be popping into Dinah's head.

Of course, it didn't help matters much when lunchtime arrived and Matt asked Dinah to come sit with him at his table. She glanced over at me, smiled and walked off with Matt. Fortunately, just as Matt was whisking Dinah away toward his table, Gina walked in and steered me toward hers. The distraction was welcome, but it wore off the minute lunch period ended.

It was the end of the day when I finally got the opportunity to talk to Dinah again. By then, I had turned myself into a nervous wreck. I decided to keep my mouth shut for once and let Dinah steer the conversation. She launched right into a discussion of what had happened with Matt in the hallway earlier and didn't even stop for a breath before continuing on to what happened in the lunchroom.

Dinah's excitement was infectious and some of the tension that had me wound up tighter than a rubber band started to ease away. I realized that things were still cool with us. By the time we had arrived at my apartment, I had completely relaxed. We started talking about Gina, and Dinah seemed neither repulsed nor shocked at my candor. She did admit to being a bit surprised by my revelation. However, that revelation had done nothing to weaken the bonds of our friendship.

James Fenimore Cooper once said, "Friendship that flows from the heart cannot be frozen by adversity, as the water that flows from the spring cannot congeal in winter." It was nice to discover that this adage held true for our friendship. That night at the dance could have spelled disaster for a new found friendship. Instead, it only served to make the bonds stronger.


	5. No Kill Policy

Secrets and lies tend to go hand in hand. Decide to keep a secret, and you have to devise a way to keep that secret. It usually begins with a small lie. You think it's harmless. After all, one small lie won't hurt anyone and your secret remains intact.

But those small lies begin to build as the need to keep that secret safe rises, like a snowball rolling downhill. In a very short time, you have a boulder-size snowball barreling downhill at top speed without any brakes. The resulting crash that's bound to happen can get awfully messy and in the end, someone's bound to get hurt.

Dinah's life was steeped in secrecy. Months had passed since we met and I began to realize that there was a great deal about Dinah's home life that I didn't know about. For one thing, I had yet to see where she actually lived. Any time we planned an all-night study session – which usually meant an hour of studying, followed by an hour of gossip, and resulting in television worship for the rest of the night – Dinah would always come to my apartment. If we walked home together, it was always Dinah walking me home, citing that my apartment was closer.

It wasn't as if I didn't know where she lived. She lived with Barbara Gordon, an English teacher and counselor in our very own high school. Miss Gordon was one of the cooler teachers to be found in New Gotham High School and, as much as Dinah complained about Barbara Gordon being strict, you could tell that Dinah was very attached to her, especially after having lost her real mom. So, I couldn't imagine why it was that Dinah never really let me see her home life.

The closest I had come to seeing the inside of her apartment was at the very beginning of Spring Break, Dinah's first year at New Gotham High (see No Kill Policy). When it came to school, Dinah was fairly nerdy. I mean that in a good way – she had a mind like a steel trap and never really needed to study hard for a passing grade. Good grades came naturally to her. And yet, like any other high school kid, when Spring Break arrived, Dinah was just as excited as the rest of us fools, longing for a moment's respite from note-taking, test-sweating, clique-impressing…yeah, we needed a break.

When the bell rang signaling the end of school and the beginning of our week-long break, Dinah grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall at break-neck speed to Miss Gordon's classroom. Something about this classroom had always bothered me. After all, Miss Gordon had been attacked here – bad enough to cause a decent-sized hospital stay – and they never caught the guy. (See Love & Betrayal) I knew it was foolish, letting something that had happened in that room months ago freak me out – obviously, the guy hadn't been hiding in the closet the last few months, avoiding police capture. But still…

In an attempt to overcome my jumpiness – I've never exactly been one to back off of a challenge – I yanked my arm away from Dinah and challenged her to a race to the classroom. The two of us nearly collided as we reached the doorway.

As Miss Gordon prepared to leave with us, Dinah shot me a glance that I took to mean she had something up her sleeve and that I should go along.

"Uh, Barbara, I was wondering. Do we have to go home right away? Maybe we can visit with Helena at the Dark Horse?"

Of course, I thought that was a great idea. I mean, what better way to celebrate Spring Break than spending some time in a forbidden place – the bar where Dinah's adopted sister, Helena, worked. But the way Miss G was narrowing her eyes, I wasn't so sure she agreed.

"And what makes you think that I want to go to the Dark Horse Bar?"

"Oh, c'mon, Barbara. Let's celebrate. No school for a week!"

Dinah threw me a pleading look and I knew I was needed for my two cents.

"Yeah, Miss G. It's not often I can go in there without getting tossed out for being underage."

Miss G just sat there frowning at us and I was certain that our idea was about to be canned. Then, I caught a twinkle of mischief in her eyes and I knew she was going to give in.__

"Oh well, why not?"__

As Miss G passed us on the way out, we gave each other a high five. Dinah's ingenious impromptu plan had worked. We were en route to forbidden territory, which I thought was pretty cool. Plus, it didn't hurt that Dinah's sister was pretty hot. I was sure we were going to have fun.

Entering the Dark Horse Bar was a total adrenaline rush. Of course, we weren't here to drink, but the fact that we were actually allowed to hang out in a place that served booze was neat enough. Of course, if my mom found out we were hanging out here, I'd probably be banned from hanging out with Dinah ever again. She wouldn't understand that we were just there for the thrill of being there. She wouldn't want to hear that the place was actually sort of a bar and grill that never served drinks to minors. You better believe that I was going to keep this visit a secret.

Watching Dinah, Helena and Miss G tease each other was fun. Being an only child has its advantages, but sometimes I wished I had a larger family that interacted with each other the way those three did. It was clear to me that they loved each other despite the fact that they weren't related through blood. I wish I had that kind of relationship with my family…but that's another story.

My thoughts about a large, happy family were suddenly and rudely interrupted by an elbow to the ribs.

"Hey, that's my sister you're gawking at!"

I hadn't realized I had been staring at Helena as she walked around the bar, but now that Dinah had pointed it out, I couldn't resist teasing her._  
_  
"Yeah, good looks seem to run in the family"

Boy, could that girl ever turn red!

After a while, the phone rang and it was clear that Helena was talking to her new boyfriend, a New Gotham Police detective named Jesse Reese. Apparently, Reese had invited Helena out to the newest and hottest spot in New Gotham – a club called New Gotham Nights. Dinah nearly leapt out of the seat at the news and practically begged Helena to take us with her. I couldn't help but look at Dinah as if she was crazy. What adult in their right mind would take a couple of teenagers on a date with them? Apparently, Helena agreed with me, but Dinah, undaunted, assured me that we would be going to New Gotham Nights with Helena and Jesse. I didn't know how she was going to manage it, but when Dinah got that determined look in her eye, I knew better than to second guess her.

When Miss Gordon dropped me off at my apartment, Dinah whispered that I should tell my Mom that I would be staying over Dinah's house and that I should get dressed in my clubbing clothes. She said I should meet her at her place in a couple of hours. Amazed that she had told me to meet her at her apartment, I never thought of asking her how she planned to pull this thing off. I rushed into my apartment and set about doing exactly what Dinah suggested.

Of course, my curiosity about Dinah's apartment was never really sated though. I got as far as the front door and Dinah was already whisking me off to Jesse's car with Helena right behind her. Helena wryly remarked how amazing it was that I had arrived already dressed for clubbing the moment they were heading out the door. Dinah winked at me and we were on our way. I still didn't know how she got Helena to take us with her on her date, but after what we saw that night, I really didn't care.

At first, things were going great. New Gotham Nights was everything it was hyped up to be. The dance floor was huge and there was a giant balcony with a great view of that dance floor. Dinah and I were having a great time dancing and just taking in the sites, when, with only a scream for a warning, the table beside us collapsed under the weight of a man who had fallen from the balcony above. It was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen in my life. I've never really wanted to go clubbing since.

The strangest thing about it all was Dinah's reaction or lack thereof. I mean, here's this kid from some Podunk town like Opal, Missouri who probably has never seen something like this happen right smack in front of her, and she barely blinks! I'm from a city filled with crime and it scared the hell out of me! I'm not going to say that I was shaking in my boots – New Gotham is not exactly a town that produces timid folk – but it did freak me out just a bit. But not Dinah – cool as a cucumber, she led me away to a quiet corner across the room. She didn't even act spooked when the cops wanted to talk to her. Weird.

But not as weird as what went on the rest of Spring Break. See, that was the last time I saw Dinah until school resumed. In fact, even when school was back in session, Dinah was nowhere to be found. At first, I got the distinct impression that she was trying to avoid me. I'd left messages at the apartment, but Dinah had never called me back. When she didn't show up at school after Spring Break, I started to worry. I thought about going over to the apartment, but when I called her that night, Miss Gordon said that they were both sick with some sort of stomach virus.

Something just didn't seem right about that explanation. The stomach virus excuse was good for a couple of days, not a whole week plus. I just didn't buy it. And when Dinah did return to school, something was different about her. She seemed quieter than usual. Yeah, she was shy and quiet when I first met her, but she'd been coming out of her shell more and more lately.

Now, it seemed like she'd crawled right back into that shell and I was going to have a heck of a time coaxing her back out. She was even distancing herself from Matt Kendall. After all the hard work she had put in to just getting him to notice her, I couldn't understand why she would want to shy away from him now. She was even hanging out less with me, rushing off after school to some doctor's appointment or to run some errand for Miss Gordon.

It was all just very strange and I had the distinct impression that something had happened over the Spring Break to Dinah…something that she felt she either couldn't or shouldn't talk to me about. Dinah was keeping yet another secret from me. I wasn't really sure how to feel about that. I mean, I'm not one of those people that need to know every secret. In fact, I tend to believe that some secrets are best left unrevealed. But the closer I got to Dinah, the more it seemed to matter that she felt she needed to keep things from me.

And yet, did I really want to push it? Pushing her into telling me something she didn't want to might make things worse. She was already hanging out with me less. What if revealing this secret to me would make her want to spend even less time with me than she was already.

I wasn't sure what to do. So, I just decided to wait until Dinah felt ready to open up to me, wondering if that day would ever come.


	6. A Return to Hell

Maybe I've been wearing blinders all of my life. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. It's just that weird things have been happening around me ever since…no, wait…let me start from the beginning.

Crime is nothing new. Since the beginning of lawful society, laws have been made to be broken. Crime has existed for centuries. A criminal act will take place at any given time, anywhere in the world, every minute of every day.

New Gotham is no different than anywhere else. Well, maybe I should rephrase that. I watch the news and I know that New Gotham has a fairly high rate of crime, but what big city doesn't? Then again, maybe I've just been sheltered from it all.

It's like…you watch it on the news…you know things happen…things like murders, robberies, assaults…but when you watch them on the news or hear other people talking about them, it seems less real. Like, if you have never experienced it, it can't possibly ever happen to you or someone close to you. These are just things that happen to other people – that's the way I felt for the longest time, until Dinah came to town.

Maybe I'd just been lucky up until then. I don't know. I feel horrible for saying this, but sometimes I just feel like Dinah's a magnet for trouble. I mean, only a couple of months after coming to New Gotham, her guardian, Barbara Gordon, gets attacked by a fellow New Gotham High School teacher…her boyfriend no less! Dinah's real mom comes to New Gotham, seeking a reunion with her daughter, only to be murdered a couple of days later.

Then, there was that time at the dance when she disappeared to sort out her feelings after Matt Kendall totally dissed her and asked me to dance. After Dinah took off, there was this huge fight on the other side of the school and somehow Dinah knew all about it. Now, I know that her guardian is a teacher and guidance counselor here, but it was just weird that it happened right after Dinah left.

And then there was that guy that got murdered at New Gotham Nights. Somehow Dinah had persuaded her "sister", Helena, and her boyfriend to take us to the hottest nightclub in town on the first night of Spring Break and while we're there, this guy gets murdered. Only, he doesn't just get murdered – he falls from a balcony and lands at our feet! And Dinah barely reacts! It was like she was used to stuff like that, even though she came from a small town where stuff like that almost never happens! Come to think of it, Dinah disappeared just after that incident as well…said she had a stomach virus or something, but she never seemed quite the same after that. She even avoided me for weeks after.

But the icing on the cake has to be the kidnapping!

But I guess I'm getting a little ahead of myself. You see, other than this weird thing that happened in New Gotham where some lunatic psychiatrist tried to take control of everyone's minds via the television airwaves, things were somewhat normal in my life. Though I did wonder how it was that Dinah knew to warn me to stay inside and away from the television, I was happy for the advice later. And after that incident, things between me and Dinah were much less strained. It seemed like whatever had happened over Spring Break was finally beginning to fade for her. Sure, there were remnants – every now and again she would have nightmares that she didn't want to talk about – but other than that, things were finally getting back to normal.

We started hanging out together more and more. Some would say we were inseparable. In fact, I took to teasing her about that, citing my inability to get a date thanks to her constant presence. I remember one time after I practically threw myself at this one hot girl…

_"I can't believe you just did that!"_

Dinah was laughing her head off, dragging me along as she ran out of New Gotham High's front entrance.

_"Well, she was hot!_ _C'mon, admit it. Even you think she's hot." _I gave Dinah an elbow to the ribs, wagging my eyebrows at her. Of course, this caused her to suffer another bout of laughter.

_"Okay, okay!"_ Dinah yelled, between gasping for air. _"But did you have to…"_

_"Of course I did,"_ I interrupted_. "How else was she gonna know I was interested? I'm having enough trouble getting dates as it is with you hanging around."_

_"What's that supposed to mean?"_

. _"Are you kidding me? I'm openly gay. You and I hang out all the time. People just assume…"_

_"But I'm straight! I'm going out with Matt Kendall for Pete's sake!"_

_"Doesn't keep people from assuming you're also with me."_

Sometimes Dinah just didn't understand how other people perceived things. She seemed really surprised at what I was saying and I was treated to the briefest glimpse of the naïve kid that made the almost fatal faux pas in Ms. Wells' class over a year ago. I couldn't help but laugh at her shocked expression. It felt so good to have my friend back. I looped my arm through Dinah's and started steering her down the block, away from the school.

_"Don't worry about it. Who cares what they think?! Me, on the other hand – that's who you should be worrying about. If I don't get any play soon, you're gonna have to start living up to your new reputation."_

Of course, that stopped her dead in her tracks. She spun around to look at me and the expression on her face was priceless. By the time she figured out I was joking, I was doubled over, painful laughter threatening to squeeze my insides out.

I was so happy that things were finally back to normal between us, I was blindsided by what happened next. A couple of days later we were happily leaving another long day of classic school boredom, when yet another of the strange events that seem to take place whenever Dinah was around happened. This time, Dinah was the victim.

We were headed toward Ms. G's Hummer when it happened. One minute, I was asking Dinah if she wanted to hang out at my house and watch movies, and the next minute we were surrounded by a bunch of assholes wearing clown masks. I never felt Dinah's hands on me, but somehow I found myself falling. The next thing I saw was Dinah, a black hood over her head, being tossed like a sack of potatoes in the back of a green van. The van sped off and she was gone, leaving me there on the ground wondering what the hell had just happened.

The next thing I knew, I was at New Gotham PD telling them what happened. It was a whirlwind. One second Dinah was there, the next I'm telling this idiot police detective the story of her abduction over and over and over again. If Helena hadn't jumped all over the detective for asking me the same questions for a fourth time, I might have slugged him myself. My friend was out there missing and this guy kept asking the same stupid questions instead of going out there and searching for her! By the time it was over, I was exhausted and feeling guilty for not having been the one scooped into that van. Miss Gordon kept telling me that there was nothing that I could have done to change things, but I just couldn't believe that so I sat there in the passenger seat of the Hummer, silently cursing my self for my inaction as Miss Gordon drove me home.

The next day, there's an article in the paper about Helena Kyle's death and I'm floored. What the hell was going on here?! This was followed by Barbara Gordon's disappearance. By now, I was bugging out. Why would anyone kidnap Dinah and kill her sister? And where was Miss G? Then came the news of a clown-faced monster, his girlfriend, and a host of bad guys being rounded up at some warehouse. And just who would happen to be the arresting officer on this choice bust? None other than Detective Jesse Reese, Helena's boyfriend.

About a week later, Dinah is back in school like nothing ever happened. Just like that. Her explanation? The people that kidnapped her were really after Helena's millionaire father. They had to fake Helena's death and hide Miss G because she was a friend of the family, or something like that. But I could tell that there was something that Dinah wasn't telling me. And once again she seemed different…like she was carrying another little secret around, except this secret seemed like less of a burden than the last…


End file.
